[Full video link here.]
Just when you think you really know all there is about Houdini - or anything else - something comes along and knocks you onto your sit-bones. We were amazed to run across this BBC documentary The Magic of Houdini.
It's really well-done, with some great footage never seen before - by us, that is. Alone worth the price of admission is the footage of a young and svelte James Randi, our longtime friend and co-conspirator. Not to mention the rare opening sequence, from Harry's French film shot in the early 1900s.
This the 1970 BBC documentary The Truth About Houdini under a different title. First aired on American TV in 1976. Have you really never seen this??? I was weaned on this as much I was the Tony Curtis movie. It's sensational. Still my favorite doc.
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing but true. Never even heard of it!
ReplyDeleteBut what a treat for you to see it now!
ReplyDeleteI guess it's not that unusual to have missed this. It didn't play on TV much beyond the '70s and was never released on any home format. This company appears to be pirating it under a fake title. But at least it's a way to see it.
I wrote up a history of it here:
https://www.wildabouthoudini.com/2017/02/the-first-great-houdini-documentary.html
Enjoy the show! :)
I remember this in 1976, and need to get a copy. Sid's escape demo from a full body straitjacket is a killer.
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